


all is calm, all is bright

by larkgrace



Category: Kingdom Hearts
Genre: Gen, Kingdom Hearts Secret Santa 2016, Unrepentant Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-31
Updated: 2016-12-31
Packaged: 2018-09-13 14:05:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,001
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9127000
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/larkgrace/pseuds/larkgrace
Summary: Christmas in Traverse Town, ft. hot chocolate and sidequests.





	

**Author's Note:**

> my (belated) secret santa gift for tinyxion!!! i hope you enjoy!!!

As far as Xion knows, the Destiny Islands never get cold, so she’s pretty surprised when she wakes up one morning to Sora shoving a bundle of snow gear at her and shouting “Get up, get up, let’s go! Dress warm!”

Xion blinks away the sleep-haze from her eyes and tries to shake the tiredness from her brain. It’s slightly more difficult than usual with Sora bouncing around the room. The sunlight streaming through her window is the thin, watery-bright of a winter morning, and through the wall next to her bed she hears a _thump_ and a muffled groan that she thinks might be Roxas falling out of bed. At least Sora has the top bunk instead of him.

“Wha?” Xion says, not quite able to speak yet.

“Come _on,_ it’s Christmas!” Sora says. “Daylight’s a-wasting!”

Xion’s still not good with figures of speech, so she’s not entirely sure what Sora’s saying, but she oozes towards the edge of her bed. In her half-awake state she ends up with her hands on the floor before her feet and has to fall onto the floor to free herself from her covers, but Sora, satisfied, drops the armful of clothes on her head and leaves. While she bats the pair of jeans off her face, she hears Sora harassing Roxas in the next room.

Xion knows how lucky she is—to be alive, to be here, welcomed into Sora’s house like a sister; to have Roxas healthy and whole. Lea and Naminé each live only a few streets away. Xehanort and Xemnas are gone, and Xion struck Saïx down herself. She couldn’t ask for more.

It’s very easy to remember all that when she wakes up to the smell of Sora’s mother making pancakes downstairs. (Xion feels bad for her sometimes, because she still remembers Xigbar’s cracks about teenagers’ stomachs and black holes, and now Sora’s mother has three Keyblade wielders to feed. Xion stocks the cabinets with groceries to compensate, because she still has more munny than she knows what to do with.)

Xion is very lucky, so she squirms into the jeans and heavy shirt and runs downstairs. If she beats the boys, maybe she can sneak some blueberries into the pancake batter.

\--

Sora’s mother wishes them all a merry Christmas as they leave the house—Xion bundled in the boots and stiff black wool coat that Sora threw at her earlier, a rust-colored scarf and matching gloves stuffed in the coat pockets; Roxas is wearing thick flannel coat and a checkered hat.

“What’s Christmas?” Roxas asks, while Sora drags him down the street. Sora’s caught Roxas by the hand and Xion by the wrist and is dashing down to the docks, but he slows down to turn around and look affronted at Roxas’s question.

“It’s only the best day ever!” Sora says. “You get to drink eggnog and play in the snow and open presents from Santa—I’d take you to meet him but I kind of wrecked his workshop last time so that’s not a good idea—and you get _candy canes!”_

“Who’s Santa?” Xion asks.

Sora looks like he might cry. Before he can explain Santa, though, they reach the dock, and the three of them pile into a little rowboat and head for the play island.

Kairi is waiting for them there, wrapped in a pink parka. Naminé is there too, a white cape draped over her shoulders and waving at them with her gray mittens. Lea has his own coat slung over his shoulder, and he uses his free hand to help pull Roxas and Xion out of the boat.

Riku is there. His hair is short now, and his coat is a sunny yellow, nothing like the black robes he wore when Xion last knew him, but he still hurts to look at, so she doesn’t.

When Sora pulls out his Keyblade, Xion asks, “What are you doing?”

“It’s _Christmas,”_ Sora says again. “We need snow for Christmas. Let’s go!”

The glowing Keyholes are nothing like the corridors of darkness that Xion used when she was with the Organization, and the light washes over her like a comfort.

\--

Sora calls it Traverse Town, and he doesn’t say more than that before he and Kairi and Riku skid away over the snow-covered streets, laughing and jostling each other the whole way. Lea ambles away deeper into the town and Naminé ducks into a café with steamy windows, leaving Xion and Roxas in the square.

The sky is dark, but there are tall wrought iron streetlamps and golden-lit shop windows everywhere, so it doesn’t feel as dark as nights on the Islands do. When Xion looks up she sees stars—not the same ones from the Islands—and rows of twinkle lights strung between the buildings. There are candles, too, placed on tables and set in wall sconces around the square.

“Hey, look,” Roxas says, and tugs on Xion’s sleeve. “Eggnog.”

Xion looks where he’s pointing. There’s a rickety stand set up at the edge of the square, covered in shimmering gold tinsel and even more twinkle lights, and the woman behind it is handing out paper cups. The sign says _EGGNOG – HOT COCOA – DONATIONS WELCOME._

“Should we get some?” Xion asks.

“I mean…it’s Christmas,” Roxas says, although when Xion turns to look at him he’s got his eyebrows scrunched together.

“We should get some,” she decides. They trudge over to the drinks stand, their footprints leaving shadowy splotches on the glittering snow. (Xion’s very glad for the boots that Sora gave her; her old uniform boots would have slid horribly.)

“Happy Yule!” The woman says when Xion and Roxas stop in front of it. “What can I get you?” She’s tall, though not as tall as Lea, and in the flickering light Xion can’t tell if her eyes are red or brown.

“Can we get an eggnog?” Roxas asks. He’s still got the scrunched eyebrows.

The woman’s smile softens a little while she looks between the two of them. “Would you like a little sample cup first?” she asks. “To make sure you like it.”

“Please,” Xion sighs.

The woman pulls out a tiny cup, small enough that Xion could encircle it with two fingers, and fills it with a creamy white drink from a pitcher. She passes it over and Xion takes a sip.

She wrinkles her nose.

“Not a fan?” the woman asks, although she doesn’t sound offended so much as amused.

“It’s really thick,” Xion says. “And…and the flavor is…” She waves her free hand.

“It’s very rich,” the woman says. “Even I can’t drink more than one cup in a sitting.”

“Let me try,” Roxas says, and drains the cup. He seems to perk up immediately.

The woman laughs. “So I can get you a full serving?” she says, and then turns back to Xion. “Hot chocolate for you?”

“Please,” Xion says. The woman hands over two cups, each with a candy cane hooked over the edge. When she takes hers, Xion feels the warmth seeping through her gloves.

“How much does it cost?” Roxas asks.

The woman shakes her head; her long black hair sweeps over her coat. “Nothing,” she says. “But if you’d like, the Radiant Garden Restoration Committee is taking donations.” She taps a jar sitting on the edge of the stand, nearly half full of glimmering munny pieces.

Xion lowers her hot chocolate. The name Radiant Garden tickles at her memories, the ones that aren’t really hers, in the same way that Traverse Town did, but this time she also thinks of Lea. Lea, and his home, ruined by the Organization.

She doesn’t realize that she and Roxas have both reached for their pockets until the jar is nearly overflowing from the fistfuls of munny.

The woman’s eyes go wide. “Are you sure you can give that much?”

“We have lots of munny, ma’am,” Roxas says. “We got it from the Heartless.”

“Oh,” she says. “You’re Keyblade wielders, aren’t you?”

Xion nods. “We are. We…uh. Did you ever hear about Organization XIII?”

“A little, from Leon,” she says. “I only know that the Organization was formed when Radiant Garden fell.”

Xion lowers her head. She can hear Roxas’s shoes crunching in the snow as he shifts his weight. “We…have friends who fought the Organization. Who are trying to fix the bad things they did.”

When Xion looks up, both the woman and Roxas are looking at her. “You’re like Sora, aren’t you?” the woman asks.

For once, the comparison doesn’t make Xion cringe. “I try to be.”

Just then, there’s a distant _boom,_ and smoke starts drifting over the rooftops from somewhere further in the town.

“Uh, should we go?” Roxas asks.

The woman has her fists clenched, but she says, “I’m sure it’s fine. My friends are over in that area, they’ll keep it under control.”

Xion looks at Roxas and shrugs; he takes another drink of his eggnog, and Xion sips at her hot chocolate.

Sora drops from a rooftop and lands with a fantastic puff of snow.

“Oh, hey guys!” he says, and waves.

“Hi, Sora,” Roxas says.

“Are you okay?” Xion asks.

He waves a hand. “Just a little bruised. Oh, hi, Tifa!”

“Good to see you, Sora,” the woman—Tifa—says.

“So, uh,” Sora says. “Have any of you guys seen a giant Heartless around here? Big, kinda shaped like a chess piece, carrying a huge sack of stolen presents?”

“I think it’s over there,” Roxas says. He points toward the billowing smoke.

Sora nods, then shoots a thumbs-up toward the rooftops; when Xion looks up she sees Riku and Kairi crouched there, Keyblades in hand.

“If you’re heading toward the fountain square, could you give this to Leon when you see him?” Tifa asks. She picks up the munny jar and hands it to Sora.

“Sure thing!” Sora beams and tucks the jar into one of his pockets, then crouches like he’s going to leap.

“Wait!” Xion says. She scrabbles in the pockets of her own jeans—they’re tight, but she never goes anywhere without items anymore; that was a lesson hard-learned. She pulls out a Hi-Potion and hands it over. “Take this. Be careful, okay?”

“You got it!” Sora says, then jumps back onto the roof. He, Riku, and Kairi run off, up the hill towards the chaos.

“Happy Yule!” Tifa yells after him.

“I thought it was Christmas,” Roxas says.

Tifa shrugs. “Lots of different worlds have their own holidays. And this town is full of people from all sorts of worlds, so we try to celebrate all of them. That’s what the lights are for, too,” she adds, and gestures to the square. “Most people who live here lost their homes to the darkness, so we try to give a little light back.”

Xion looks back up at the lights strung over the streets, like little warm stars. “Aren’t all the worlds back, though? Why do those people still live here?”

“Traverse Town is always here for people who need a home,” Tifa says. “And some people feel most at home here.”

Xion’s eyes prickle a little. Next to her, Roxas leans over so their arms brush.

“That sounds really nice,” he says.

Xion nods.

“I hope you enjoyed the drinks,” Tifa says. Xion looks down and finds that her cup is empty; she must have finished it while she was distracted. “I heard some of the locals are setting up a big snowball fight in the Second District if you want to head over there.”

“We will,” Roxas says, and drops his empty cup into the trash bin next to the stall. “Thank you!”

“Thank you,” Xion echoes, and throws away her own cup; she clutches the half-melted candy cane between her teeth.

“Happy Yule!” Tifa says.

Xion takes Roxas’s hand and they slip-slide towards the gate to the Second District. The candlelight washes over her, and she feels warm despite the snow.

**Author's Note:**

> i went with a more secular christmas instead of the religious background, because. like. does god exist in kingdom hearts? does jesus exist? honestly sora is the most jesus-y jesus figure to ever jesus. why do they call it christmas if their god isn't the christian god? i don't know i just write the fic
> 
> i love the idea of the kh universe's holidays all revolving around light and home, though.
> 
> also, i amused myself with the thought that roxas and xion and tifa are all helpful npcs for sora and gang, and tifa gives sora a sidequest. it also explains why they stand around and chat instead of fighting the heartless. why is there a heartless? i don't know. it's there.


End file.
